9% chose enema man. 12% chose snoopy poop dogg and 79% chose megyn kelly at fox news. good evening, americans. welcome, tonight from new york, this is what's on the table. scott walker's war on the middle class nears the breaking point in wisconsin. as signs indicate, the democrats are winning the standoff. i'll have commentary. bomb first ask questions later. that is the presidential hopeful newt gingrich's strategy for success in libya. and our special series continues. last night we told you how wall street is driving up the price of gas. tonight what fox news and the republicans want you to believe instead.

and what president obama needs to do to stop all of it. this is the story that has me fired up first tonight. at this hour there are major doubts that governor scott walker will win this budget battle in wisconsin. governor walker and the republicans in the state of wisconsin in the senate are starting to crack. over the last 48 hours, the dynamic has completely shifted in the badger state. on sunday night "the wall street journal" reported wisconsin 14, they were throwing in the towel. that report was wrong. on monday governor walker attacked senator mark miller for sending a letter offering a meeting on the state line. last night senator miller and members of the 14 were on this program to respond. today wisconsin state republicans broke off discussions after some of the members started to back away from the governor walker's radical budget repair bill. in an interview with the "green bay press gazette" republican

senator bob cowles said you have to be flexible because some way, some how there will be an amendment modifying the collective bargaining. it's an incredible situation, the democrats leaving, that none of us ever thought would happen. so negotiations on this are critical to move past this and move on to the budget. another senate republican named luther olsen told "the milwaukee journal sentinel" they're in the minority but holding some cards so you've got to negotiate. you can't give up the whole ship. what does all that mean? both statements come weeks after senator dale schultz tried to push an amendment that would sunset the elimination of collective bargaining rights. folks, you have to admit these statements go completely against what governor walker has been saying about the bill for weeks. >> the bottom line is we're trying to balance our budget and there is really no room to negotiate on that because we're broke. >> it's real simple. we're trying to balance the

budget. we're broke. we are broke in this state. we're broke. you really can't negotiate when you don't have money to negotiate. >> walker talks a good game on camera but he is trying to cut a deal behind closed doors. a new development. this afternoon e-mails between governor walker's aides and the wisconsin 14 were released to the milwaukee journal sentinel. the governor's office e-mailed a series of concessions to democratic senator bob jauch on sunday night. they include a concession to allow union bargaining over certain economic issues including mandatory overtime, performance bonuses, hazardous duty pay and classroom size. the bill would no longer seek to limit public union employee bargaining over wages to the rate of inflation. these are small concessions. don't let it hood wink you. but it proves governor walker is worried that the wisconsin 14 are winning this fight in the arena of public opinion. senate republicans are starting to realize their jobs are in

serious jeopardy unless they negotiate with the democrats. recall campaigns are well under way, picking up steam and governor walker's approval ratings are dropping like a rock. the protesters also i think deserve credit for a shift in strategy. the rallies aren't what they were. rallies in madison have decreased in size over the last few days because the mission has clearly changed. protesters are taking their fight back to their home districts. last night hundreds of people packed a room in suburban milwaukee to attend a town hall meeting with a republican state senator and also congressman jim sensenbrenner. the congressman tried to take control of the meeting early when he told the crowd just to shut up. >> you should not try to shout down people whose views you

disagree with. okay. then let's shut up and let her talk. >> oh, yeah. now in the past, keep in mind, it was sensenbrenner who praised members of the tea party for, you know, acting up, acting out during the health care town hall meetings with the democrats. well, the shoe is on the other foot last night. he shut down the meeting after only 30 minutes. >> give her the respect to answer the question. >> i'm sorry. >> okay. this meeting will be adjourned. >> boo! shame! shame! shame! shame! shame! >> well, so much for listening to the people. tonight the protesters and the wisconsin 14 have the upper hand in this fight.

can we come to that conclusion? the polls are showing that. here's where we are at this hour in my opinion. the 14 can't come back until they know for sure these recall efforts are real and that the people will follow through on them. now it's up to the people. you've done the protesting, boots on the ground stuff but put yourself if you are a wisconsinite in the shoes of the wisconsin 14. they're wondering, okay. when can we get back? you got some moderate republicans saying maybe the governor is going too far. now they could be saying that in public, leaking that to media folks and be on the record saying we need to negotiate but how do the 14 really know that they're not going to change their position once they come back? so this is a crucial point. they have to know and they have to have it in writing that these moderate republicans aren't going to turn coat and go back to the governor's side when the 14 come back to the state of

wisconsin if they do any time soon. the other thing is, patience. this has ban classic lesson in patience. and i also think the wisconsin 14 has shown tremendous discipline not to rush to judgment thinking, hey, look at the polls. we have this thing won. no, no. it's not that easy. it's not just about a poll. this is about actions now. and you have to believe that the wisconsin 14 is looking at what's going on the ground in wisconsin saying, okay. is this recall effort for real? how many signatures do they have? what kind of infrastructure is there? because they went there, wisconsinites. they went to illinois for you. they went there to give you an opportunity to do something about these republicans who were trying to warn the american people that more of this is on the way. and they went there to try to tell these wisconsinites that now is the time for you to rise

up against what the republicans are trying to do. the protests are great. the raising of the money is great. you pushed off the outside influence. if you look at it this way from the governor's standpoint, where are his thousands? where are his 10,000? where is hundred thousand? day after day after day. they're not there. they had to bus in the koch brothers' fraternal order to get something going in that state. it's not real. but the assurances are crucial now for the wisconsin 14. they have to know that wisconsinites are going to hold together and follow through with the recall. because these moderate republicans need to know that they are going to be under the scrutiny of a possible being taken out of office. that's what this is all about at this hour. and, of course, collective bargaining. the one big assurance i think the 14 are going to have to get that these moderate republicans will put in paper and go on record with the media, so it is crystal clear that they have changed their position on collective bargaining and they will vote with the democrats

because if the 14 don't get those republicans on record, they're not going to be able to go back and hold them accountable in the next election cycle. this is the greatest political story i think that we have seen in this country in decades. i mean that. and i think it's great that our network is now focusing on what's going on in ohio and in new jersey and in michigan and in florida. because you know what? all politics is local. and these radicals who have been elected have all gotten on the same page and say, hey. this is what we have to do in our back yard. there is going to be a price to be paid for this. it's the working folk of america paying the price while the privileged get off scott free with these republican governors. it is morally wrong. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question is, do you think -- excuse me -- who do you think will buckle first in the wisconsin budget standoff? text a for the senate republicans, text b for the wisconsin 14. to 622639 or go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com and we'll bring you

results later in the show. joining us now is john nichols, washington correspondent of "the nation." good to have you with us tonight. i understand there is a statement that was put out today by senator bob jauch and basically we have his statement, we're rolling it up for you right here. since governor walker introduced this legislation, i have talked with republican lawmakers and former thompson, governor thompson cabinet officials every day to seek a pathway to find common ground. those conservatives revealed that six or seven republican senators hated the collective bargaining provisions but felt pressured by governor walker to vote for the bill. john, we are now seeing the truth come to light are we not? >> we sure are, ed. and i think that what bob jauch

said there is very, very important. senator jauch is one of the senior members of the legislature. he has been there for a long time and he really does know all of the senior republicans. he is somebody who has worked across a lot of lines of party and ideology over the years. i have talked to senator jauch during this process. i've talked also to a lot of the republicans. i know these dialogues are going on behind the scenes. i will tell you this. the pressure on the republicans has been intense. the governor literally calls the so-called weak republicans every day and talks to them at great length. and one of the mistakes i think that a lot of us made early on in talking about this was that we focused so much energy on the 14 that we forgot about the 19, about all the republicans. and now as attention begins to focus in on them where they really are being pressured to say what they think being asked by their local papers, being asked by democrats behind the scenes where they're at, what

we're beginning to hear is a great deal of dissent, a great deal of deep discomfort with the governor. >> what we're seeing i think from mr. jauch's statement is that in a round about way the wisconsin 14 are now giving these moderate republicans and some conservatives according to bob jauch a pathway to reasonable thinking that they never really were with this governor from the standpoint and they felt strong armed and had the 14 not done what they did, who knows where the vote of the 19 would have gone? what do you think? >> well, you're exactly right, ed. in fact, this is the whole thing what the 14 did was to create space for a debate. that space allowed an immense amount of popular education in wisconsin. ordinary folks who haven't been involved in these issues much, maybe haven't thought about collective bargaining learned a lot. they had time to go out and study, think, dialogue, and then go into the streets and build this incredible movement across the state.

>> what about -- go ahead. >> the one other thing that happened that i think is very, very important is that these republican senators were left with enough time to begin kind of thinking it through themselves. i can report to you tonight, ed, that a major labor leader spent an hour with one of these moderate republicans just this afternoon and that wasn't happening two weeks ago. they weren't bringing the labor leaders in to talk. now there are behind-the-scenes discussions not just with democrats but with key labor players. >> john, how damaging are these e-mails that have been revealed that the governor, his aides, have been negotiating with the democrats and obviously the 14 have known this all along so that's why they're holding strong, saying hey we got this guy to the table but then he goes back to madison and he holds a press conference saying that it's the democrats' fault for stalling this whole thing.

i mean, this is very revealing. this guy may be -- he may be lying to his own people. >> well, i think there is very little question that that is happening and understand this. here is a guy who wants to get rid of collective bargaining. he doesn't like having a structure for negotiation. i think we're starting to see why. he is not very good at negotiating. one of the things that you do when you are negotiating is you're honest about it. you're open about it. and you don't insult the other players and call them ridiculous and write them nasty letters and suggest that they're not just wrong but maybe losing their senses. that's what this governor has done. and i think he actually solidified a lot of the concerns of the democrats. your commentary there was spot on. i don't think these democrats are going to accept an easy settlement here because they know there are reasons to be distrustful. >> they are sitting down in illinois asking those moderate republicans, do you really want to get rid of collective bargaining and pay the price down the road after we've had

how many decades of it doing just so well for wisconsin families over the years? i mean, they are going, asking them if they really want to go against tradition and get behind a governor who is basically lying and not working as an honest broker in front of the public as opposed to what he is doing behind closed doors. thanks for joining us again tonight. the recall momentum is growing and still ahead we'll look into whether wisconsin voters will recall union bashing republicans. but first, remember to answer tonight's question there at the bottom of the screen. i want to know what you think. gas prices, our special report. we show you why wall street speculators are to blame for sky high prices. tonight, how fox news has wall street's back. and chris hayes on what the president must do. tonight's takedown. newt wants another war. that he won't have to fight. >> exercise a no fly zone this evening. this is a moment to get rid of him.

do it. get it over with. >> in the georgia gop's budget solution, a tax cut for corporations, a tax hike on girl scout cookies. i only wish i were kidding. check out our new blog at we created the electricity that powered the alarm clocks and brewed the coffee. we heated the bathwater and gave kelly a cleaner ride to school. cooked the cube steaks and steamed the veggies. entertained dad, and mom, and a neighbor or two. kept watch on the house when they slept. and tomorrow we could do even more. we're cleaner, domestic, abundant and ready now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power today. learn more at anga.us.

check out our new blog at ed.msnbc.com. there you will find links. the next step for political change in wisconsin may be recall. right now the number of elected officials who face the boot is historic. who is safe and who's not? we'll tell you next. stay with us.

it is apparent to me that if the governor does not engage in meaningful compromise he will be recalled because when you go after the jugular and try to put workers out of business, that is when they will mean business in the way they respond. >> gosh, i wish president obama would say that but that was former congressman david obey speaking on msnbc here yesterday. given scott walker's sinking popularity, it's not crazy to think that he may be removed from office before he can make it through his first term. but according to the wisconsin constitution an elected official must be in office for a year before a recall petition can be launched. that means the earliest attempt to remove walker from office would be january of 2012 which would be kind of a good warm-up to the election don't you think? but for state senators in office for more than a year the story is very different. every member of the wisconsin senate that is eligible to be

recalled this year is being targeted. can you believe it? there are 16 formal recall petition campaigns being waged against eight democrats and eight republicans. state senator lena taylor who is often on this program is one of the wisconsin 14. she said that her fellow democrats are confident that her recall drives against them will fail. well, these are the eight republican senators who are vulnerable to a recall vote this summer. in each district they represent a petition must have enough signatures to equal 25% of the votes cast in that district in the last election meaning last november. so far, the wisconsin democratic party says it's already got 15% of the total it needs to recall all eight republicans. the race to fund these recall campaigns is heating up and it may come down to outside money as a deciding factor. for more on that joining me tonight is adam green the

cofounder of the progressive change campaign committee. he joins us from washington, d.c. adam, good to have you with us tonight. your group has put together a pro labor ad on wisconsin tv and it's had great success. had this not been done would the recall efforts be where they are right now? is it going to take this kind of exposure to keep people in wisconsin motivated? what do you think? >> i think a lot of credit goes to those on the ground, the wisconsin democratic party and the literally thousands of people who volunteered this weekend in the last couple days to help accumulate those 15 percent of the signatures needed. what we're trying to do is provide air cover. we're thankful to the 24,000 people who have donated over $500,000 to keep the ad on the war to ship in $3, $10. at the end of the day this is a people powered movement. this is what pro worker forces look like. we're finally teaching republicans what it looks like to be accountable when they take the pro corporate positions against every day working

families. it is a pretty inspirational moment. >> is this somewhat of a tea leaf on how the funding is going to go? i imagine this is very intense, obviously the koch brothers involved with the good interest of the governor. how is this going to play out? >> let's be very clear. this is a movement that is grown in wisconsin, you know, revolving around thousands of people volunteering in wisconsin, but there is a lot of solidarity that you showed on the show and groups like ours, the progressive change campaign committee, democracy for america, move on, and regular, every day people around the country, we really want these wisconsin workers to win because this is ground zero in the fight between big corporations and special interests against every day working families. so we're willing to do our part

and we're willing to give the people of wisconsin the support they need to win this battle. >> okay. eight democrats are being targeted. eight republicans are being targeted. but we don't see any republicans out demonstrating against democrats here in any huge numbers whatsoever. is this the outside influence and also who do you think are the most vulnerable republicans in this? >> well, the most vulnerable republicans, actually a clear set of three people. one is a guy named randy hopper from green bay who won his last election by only 184 votes. he is in the line of fire. we're airing our ad in his district very heavily and the recall effort is very much under way there. alberta darling, who you talked about on this show won her last election by 51% in the milwaukee area. dan kapanke in la crosse area won by 51%. these guys really have to essentially pick a side. are they going to side with governor walker and big corporate interests or the people of wisconsin? and if they choose the wrong way, they will very easily be booted from office. >> the way the polls are going, the way the interest is, the way we've seen this turn against the governor in the arena of public opinion is it a slam dunk that the three that you just mentioned will probably get recalled? >> well, i think it's a slam dunk that one of two things will happen. either they will do what their constituents want and vote against the governor's budget or they will get recalled. it's one of the two. we'll see what happens. but this is really testament to people power, to regular people

standing up and saying, even though we have a republican governor, house, and senate, we're going to push back. and it's been a really inspirational thing and honestly people across the nation will, are taking the lead from the folks in wisconsin and this could usher in a new era over the next two years. >> we can only speculate if these recall campaigns are successful, we might see people thinking twice before they start attacking unions the way they have in wisconsin. adam green, great to have you with us tonight. thanks for your time. folks in wisconsin and this could usher in a new era over the next two years. >> we can only speculate if these recall campaigns are successful, we might see people thinking twice before they start attacking unions the way they have in wisconsin. adam green, great to have you with us tonight. thanks for your time. the republican fix is in the

state of georgia. here we go. lower taxes on corporations, raise taxes on everyone else, including the girl scouts? presidential hopeful newt gingrich wants us to bomb the rest of the world first and ask questions later. i'll tell chicken hog newt what i think of his military strategy in the takedown next. stay with us. [ crickets chirping ]

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welcome back to "the ed show." it's time for the takedown. newt gingrich might want to pay attention to this quote. it comes from senator frank lautenberg. his definition of the term chicken hawk. they shrek like a hawk but have the back bone of a chicken. when it was their turn to serve where were they? awol. that's where they were. he said that on the senate floor. newt, sure sounded like a chicken hawk saying we should drop more bombs on the middle east making a mockery of a suspension from fox news the disgraced former speaker of the house was back on rupert murdoch's pr channel last night. here's what he would do to libya if he were president. >> exercise a no fly zone this evening, communicate to the libyan military that gadhafi was gone and that the sooner they switch sides the more likely they were to survive. the united states doesn't need anybody's permission. we don't need to have nato. frankly won't bring much to the fight.

we don't need the united nations. >> hum. so we're back to being the policemen of the world and newt is going to be the sheriff to lead the charge. but here is what the administration is already doing in case newt didn't know, flying intelligence missions over libya, sending humanitarian aid, orchestrating military options with nato. and also defense secretary robert gates is calling for international sanctions. you see, newt would rather just gas up all the planes and go drop some bombs tonight without any allied support because we all know how that worked out for the united states in iraq. you would think that newt would know better. he grew up as a military brat. he stayed in school for the drafts the vietnam war and never served in the armed forces although wait a minute. he did sit on the defense advisory board during the george w. bush administration. nine members of that board had private business ties to defense contractors including boeing, trw, northrop grumman and also

booz allen hamilton and lockheed martin. newt knows a little bit about lockheed martin. it's one of his biggest defense contractors in georgia with headquarters located in cobb county. where's that? cobb county. that's georgia's sixth congressional district and wouldn't you know it. from 1979 to 1999 the man representing that district was you got it, the newtster. listen carefully. when you hear newt gingrich talking about launching military strikes around the world. he may shriek like a hawk but he dings like a cash register. that's the takedown. coming up, the real cause of high gas prices and food prices. the truth slips out on fox news. wait till you see what they do about it. republican lawmakers in georgia have a creative solution to balancing the budget in the shortfall. taxing girl scout cookies.

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welcome back to "the ed show." this is really happening. i want you to grasp this tonight. please. it's called house bill 385. 385. and it's how republicans in the state of georgia are tackling a state budget gap, finally. lawmakers with the guts to go after public enemy number one. the girl scouts. just look at them. it's time you paid your fair share, missy. the gop sponsored bill would subject girl scout cookies to a sales tax. local girl scout leaders are worried about the significant financial impact. now we get serious. the tax would have on the program. you see, cookie sales give troops their operating money.

and they boost community service projects which of course is good to teach kids what it's all about. now to be fair the bill doesn't target just the girl scouts. the boy scouts' popcorn fundraiser will also be taxed. and so will working families. the bill raises taxes on gas and on groceries and as you know, taxes on essentials are the most regressive. low and middle income families already spend a greater portion of their income on essentials like food and in georgia over 1.1 million kids, 45%, live in low income families. over half a million of them live below the federal poverty line. so let's really stick it to the girl scouts. what do you say? but there is some good news. the proposal offers a tax break for corporations. oh, good old house bill 385 would lower taxes on corporate

income in both foreign and domestic companies. now, you tell me if that's fair. joining me now is tracy crump the coo of the girl scouts of the greater atlanta area and taniqua wilde a girl scouts training coordinator and a mom, her daughters are both girl scouts. welcome tonight. you're beautiful, all of you. can i say that? that's america right there. i'm proud that i have regular americans on the ed show. i'll tell you what. if i was in the georgia senate or the assembly down there i would be screaming about this. this is absolutely unbelievable to the extent that the republicans will go. tracy, let me start with you. this is about more than just the price of thin mints isn't it? what kind of impact is this going to have on the girl scouts' program? >> well, ed, it's going to be a devastating impact for girl scouts for the program because this is our primary funder.

and so this directly takes money away from things that are done for girls and on behalf of girls. and, in fact, it takes away from our ability to offer our leadership program for our -- to maintain and keep safe our camps, to have safe, trained volunteers. it directly takes money away from our girl and our girl program. >> how do you feel about this? how devastating is this going to be? >> well, as a parent, of two girls in girl scouting, i am disappointed. i mean, to actually see how far my girls have gotten with the girl scout cookie program and in their girl scout years, it would take a lot away from them just to see their face when they're actually doing their planning meetings and they're anticipating the girl scout cookie program knowing that's where their income is going to come from to support their dreams and their aspirations for their troop through that year. >> what about the fairness or the lack of it in this? speak to that.

>> is it fair or is it not fair? >> yeah. >> yeah. >> it's not fair at all. these girls depend on the girl scout cookie program in order, like i said, to support everything that they want to do for their troop year. and to see on their faces when they make the decision to want to go to florida or even go overseas or give back to the community by doing a service project or supporting girl scouts in other countries. this is what they depend on to do that. and to take money away from that is devastating. >> tracy, have you been talking to any of the lawmakers about this? >> yes, we have, ed. in fact, we've put out a call to action to all of our stakeholders, our girls, our volunteers, our parents, our donors, all of our folks to put out a call to action to say please contact your representatives and let them

know how, again, what a horrible impact this would be on girl program. on our girl scouting movement. and also on our ability to offer again community service and do the things that scouting is known for the last hundred years. >> tracy, what are you going to do, make up the revenue shortfall? i mean a revenue shortfall could hit the girl scouts of america in georgia. i just find it amazing. what's plan b if this goes through? >> well, we'd have to look at the things that we do on behalf of girls. we'd have to look at the camp sites, our program, the different things we do, and it's particularly hard because we've already it's been difficult through the economic downturn and we've seen some hits on other funding areas so we would have to directly look at what are we going to do and what kind of choices would we have to make and what kind of impact might that have on girls in our communities?

>> can i buy a hundred boxes because i'm mad at the republicans about this? is that okay? can i buy a hundred boxes? >> absolutely. >> you know, i want to buy a hundred boxes. you have motivated me. i just think this is -- the republicans will go to any extreme to do what they have to do to fit it their way. thanks so much for joining us tonight. keep up the great work. still ahead, speaker boehner is protecting wall street speculators. he can't admit they're the ones driving up gas prices. so what does he do? he blames president obama. stay with us. [ male announcer ] from jet engines that have fewer emissions, to new ways to charge electric cars, to renewable sources of clean energy, ecomagination from ge is advanced technology that's good for both the economy and the environment. ♪ it's technology that makes the world work. [ squawking ] ♪

it's not too late to let us know what you think. tonight's question. what do you think will buckle first in the wisconsin budget standoff? text a for the senate republicans. text b for the wisconsin 14. to 622639. or go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. the results are coming up. plus our special series on the real cause of gas and food prices is the white house dropping the ball? we'll talk to chris hayes of "the nation." stay with us.

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the war on working americans continues at the gas pump today. and house speaker john boehner is now on the front lines protecting his wall street backers and buddies. as part of our week-long series with "the nation" magazine we explained yesterday on this program how wall street speculators are jacking up the price of your food and gas and they're getting rich off it. boehner is blocking democratic efforts to stop wall street speculators. his blog has the following quote, it's time for president obama to explain to the american people why he spent the last two years blocking new american energy production, working to raise prices on families and small businesses, and making it harder to create jobs. blah, blah, blah. how generic can you get? well, last week we told you the right wing was going to try to pin this on president obama and sure enough that very day fox

news came out, calling for an end to gas tax. watch this. >> gas prices soaring and this guy ain't leaving. the price at the pump up four cents in just the past day. the next guy says cut the gas tax now to get the prices under control. >> well, guess what? his own guest comes on and says he doesn't think cutting gas tax will do any good. >> it would only save you about 48 cents a gallon and the way things are flying in crude you'll lose that 50 cents a gallon almost immediately at the pump. so i'm not sure it will do any good. >> ah, so here comes the good part. cavuto's own guest blames it on future speculators and cavuto doesn't say a word about it. >> you know that is going to gouge because they buy futures when they come to gas and the futures price they expect to be higher so they're hedging by pumping up td price now but that doesn't help the consumer slightly. >> in fact in the very next segment cavuto brings on a baker

to talk about food prices and when the baker blames high food prices on speculators cavuto doesn't just ignore it. he ends the whole interview. >> we've got to have policies coming out of washington that are flexible that when there is a flood or a freeze or something they allow people to be able to move. and then you know speculators do the same thing to the grain market that they're doing to our fuel market right now. farmers are not getting rich. we're not getting rich but somebody is making a lot of money. >> you hang in there. guys like you are the salt of the earth. i guess in your case the sugar of the earth. i don't know. >> you got to screen those guests, big guy. so even guests on fox news know this is all about wall street. they're even admitting it. but yesterday we asked the white house whether they said anything about wall street's role in high gas prices and no answer yet. stay with us as chris hayes of the nation weighs in on how the white house is fumbling gas prices and the political price president obama might pay for it

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finally tonight, gas prices have gone up 21 straight days and with wall street driving up gas and food prices the big question is, where is president obama? can he do anything about it? the white house has spent lot of time talking about libya and opec and the strategic reserve. i want to point out tonight not one word about wall street

speculators. president obama campaigned in 2008 on cracking down on wall street speculators. in his wall street reform law it does just that but republicans have blocked the funding for both the s.e.c. securities exchange commission and the cftc the commodity futures trading commission to enforce it. so as we reported last night, one of the cftc members, michael dunn, has been a skeptic on position limits which cap how much commodity trading wall street speculators can do, so the big question is now, how does the white house get this issue? do they get it well enough both to call out republicans for blocking the funding and to appoint a replacement for dunn who supports position limits that would reduce wall street manipulation of gas and food prices? it's a big deal. our week-long series on this issue is being done in conjunction with "the nation"

magazine. washington editor chris hayes wrote about it for the nation.com today. great to have you with us tonight. does the white house get it or do they just want to pick another -- they just probably don't want to pick another fight with wall street. how do you see this coming down? >> i think the white house has not messed on this particularly effectively particularly as you noted before. you saw, we know how this is going to go. we all lived through the 2008 campaign in which on the right the republican party there is a very kind of pat, ideological cause and effect, they can point you any time gas prices rise which is they can say we need to expand supply, drill, baby drill. of course that phrase was coined amidst $4 gas in the summer of 2008. there is no coherent vision from the white house so far from the democratic party about what to do about gas prices, particularly gas prices spiking with the kind of volatility we're seeing now and this is the place to look. unfortunately, i think there is a real tentativeness because as

per usual the people that are sort of overseeing the speculation in these markets are the big wall street donors and the people that have kind of outside influence not just in terms of donor dollars but sort of intellectually and cognitive cognitively in the democratic party. >> what does the white house have to do to rein this in? what happens if they don't? >> well, what's interesting here is that actually unlike a lot of things that can be stonewalled by republicans and blocked by them, the commodities futures and trading commission has the statutory authority but since the new deal to rein in what's called excessive speculation and they are a bit instructed specifically by the wall street reform bill to promulgate position limits. that is to say you cannot make bets bigger than this and rein in the excessive speculation. what is remarkable is this is one of those rare cases in which actually the authority is already there.

there does not have to be a political fight to grant it. all that has to happen is the commissioners, three have to vote to put in place position limit. as you pointed out michael dunn sort of the swing vote on this has expressed skepticism of the wisdom of it and is up for reappointment in june. he said he wans to see more evidence. he can go either way. the white house has to choose someone who is going to be good on this issue. as commissioner gary gensler who they nominated has been they need someone good on this issue if we're going to see action in the near term. >> do you think president obama is politically afraid to do this, to put someone on that commission that would definitely favor position limits? i mean, dunn i understand, you know he casts basically a procedural vote to allow discussion of position limits but, you know, who knows where he's going to end up on this? it sounds like he won't be for it which of course would be a big disappointment to working families in this country and small businesses and i thought the republicans were all about small business.

but back to my point about president obama, he seems to be politically scared on this one. what do you think? >> well, i think, look. they are worried that anyone who is too aggressive isn't going to get through the senate and that's, obviously these are confirmed positions to the board. but the fact is actually one of the things we saw in 2008 that's interesting was broad bipartisan support for these kinds of regulations there was a very restrictive bill that got 53-54 votes i think it was in the senate in 2008 and got a lot of republican support because when gas prices hit $4 the country's politics go hay wooir. i think if you're in the white house right now you have to understand the volatility in the oil markets right now combined with what is going on in the middle east, combined with the massive influx of capital in the commodities futures markets means you're going to see increased volatility. things are going to go up. you need to get ahead of it. once they go up that's when there is this sort of panic that besets the entire political atmosphere and then you start

talking about really stupid solutions so you need to start making the case now for an explanation of this so you can get to a sensible solution. >> this is not a supply issue. i mean, there's been reports out there. >> exactly. >> that we are at an 18-year high when it comes to the supply of petroleum. shouldn't this be the fight the democrats want? shouldn't this be absolutely right up their alley? >> that is exactly the point. if you say, well, the republicans will stone wall our nominee if we put forward the nominee who is aggressive on this issue. the fact is you want to kind of draw attention to it because there is really good evidence and it was a little murkier in 2008 but as time has gone on it's harder and harder to make sense of the volatile swings we've seen in commodities prices broadly, oil specifically, without looking directly at what wall street is doing and the amount of money they're pouring into these markets. they'll tell you they had nothing to do with it but if you go to the end users, go to the

people that actually are using the fuel they're also sort of kind of a surprising ally for the white house in this fight. you can draw the line and use a senate confirmation for cftc for the commissioner slot. you could use that as a kind of instructive moment to lay out exactly what is going on with oil prices rather than allowing yourself to be demagogued on drill baby drill your piece is up at the nation.com. thanks for your time tonight. great work. join us tomorrow when our series on wall street and gas prices continues. we go straight to the source. cftc commissioner bart chilton will be our special guest on the series tomorrow night and you'll want to hear what he has to say. tonight in our survey i asked, what do you think will buckle first in the wisconsin budget standoff? 90% of you said the senate republicans will buckle first.